After 20 years of membership in the World Trade Organization, China has not adopted the rules of the institution.
Worse, the country has "
amplified
" its statist approach, hurting businesses and workers around the world, the Biden administration lamented on Wednesday.
Read alsoThe EU seizes the WTO to defend Lithuania against China
"
China also has a long history of violating, disregarding and circumventing WTO rules to achieve its industrial policy objectives
", denounces the services of Katherine Tai, the United States Trade Representative (USTR), in their report. annual for the US Congress.
The WTO, based in Geneva, Switzerland, works to enforce rules governing trade between countries, including promoting fair competition and open trade.
Katherine Tai points out that when it joined, Beijing declared that it would embrace these principles.
But, "
it is clear that by pursuing this (state) approach, China's policies and practices are undermining WTO rules and causing serious harm to workers and businesses around the world, especially in developing countries. industries targeted by China's industrial plans
,” responded the ambassador.
The United States has long denounced the practices deemed "
unfair
" by China, which massively subsidizes its public companies to make them champions.
Beijing is also accused of stealing intellectual property and forcibly transferring know-how and technology from foreign companies in exchange for access to the Chinese market.
It was to denounce these practices that Donald Trump had launched the United States in a trade war against the Asian giant in 2018, imposing punitive customs duties.
USTR noted on Wednesday that the United States has also conducted bilateral discussions over time to push China to comply with the standards.
However, the 72-page report points to "
isolated
" progress and regrets that China's commitments to fundamentally change its policies and practices have gone unheeded.
Moreover, the commitments made in January 2020 when signing phase 1 of the bilateral treaty concluded with former President Donald Trump have not been respected either.
"
China has yet to implement some of the most important commitments it made in the Phase 1 agreement, such as commitments in the area of agricultural biotechnology,
" the report details.
Multi-faceted
It is also far from having met its commitments to purchase American goods and services in 2020 and 2021. The Biden administration also draws a harsh assessment of this agreement, considering that "
many of the commitments of the 2020 agreement reflected the changes that China had already planned or was pursuing for its own benefit
”.
Further, "
the reality is that this agreement has not meaningfully addressed more fundamental U.S. concerns about Chinese state-led non-market policies and practices and their detrimental impact on the U.S. economy and communities." American workers and businesses
,” she continues.
Among the sectors affected by China's practices deemed unfair, Washington cites steel, aluminum, solar energy and fishing, to the detriment of the United States and other countries.
Read alsoAt the WTO, China promises to accelerate its “new development model”
USTR stresses that the United States is now pursuing "
a multi-faceted strategic approach
" by abandoning neither dialogue nor possible retaliatory measures.
Because China is a major trading partner.
“
And all means to obtain a real change in its economic and commercial regime must be used
”.
Finally, she believes that if China “
fully
” implemented the 2020 agreement, it would lay a more solid foundation for tackling the issues that remained unresolved.
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